About this episode

Dr. Kirby Reutter discusses the stages of brain development and the impact of trauma on healthy thinking.

Brain development can be understood as a process of four maturing stages: survival, emotional, attachment and cognitive. These stages hold a key to understanding both poor and healthy thought processes. In this episode of Breaking Bread, Dr. Kirby Reutter steps us through brain development, how trauma impacts it and how by God's grace we can think healthier. Show Notes : The first dimension of the brain to develop very early in life is the survival brain. Survival lies at the heart of the operations of the survival brain. The responses of fight, flight and freeze protect and train us to respond to our surrounds and preserve life. Healthy development : A child has a healthy co-regulator (parent figure) who helps them regulate their responses and properly protects them. Unhealthy development: A child does not have a healthy co-regulator and their safety is exploited. Fight, flight and freeze become a constant regular reaction to outside stimuli. The second dimension of the brain to develop is the emotional brain. Responses to outside stimuli are mapped to feelings. Healthy development: A properly developed survival brain allows for a developing emotional brain. The full range of…

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